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Not that I build much of anything, but I do repair all of my own gear when I can.

I got started when my fatehr and I fixed a Sunn Concert Slave. It was so beyond beat up. We would fix one thing that we thought was the problem....just to find out it was something else. I think we replaced just about every manin part of that thing. When we finally got it working we felt so damn good! That bitch made everything super fucking loud too!

I have only built maybe 4 pedals. Started with an LPB1 and the last thing I built was an EA tremolo that has some issues. I really want to get an awesome amp kit and go big!

So I just bought a Radio Shack Electronics Learning Lab! Gonna have some fun, gain some understanding, look up some schematics, figure out how shit works, start meshing things together, have some fun... repeat.

Been soldering since I was kid, fixing broken leads, jacks etc etc, studied electronics for a few years but did nothing with it then read somewhere (probably talk talkbass) about how the GGG tune muff was very similar to the Bluebeard which sounded really good on bass from what I heard on youtube vids so I ordered two GGG Muffs and they both worked first go so I ordered a few more kits to build some stuff myself and a few friends and haven't stopped since then. I did quickly realise I could buy in bulk and save a load of money so kept going with that, plus it means stuff gets fixed and/or built quickly so I can help people out of a last minute fix, most memorable was picking up a guitar at a mate's soundcheck and bringing it home fixing it and having it back in time for them to use it for the gig. Such a good feeling to see people rocking out using gear you've built or fixed.

Fix bass. Gain confidence. Mod bass. Mod bass more. Keep modding bass. Bass becomes sentient and has to be destroyed. The army is called in. There's an epic battle. Many lives are lost. Lesson learned. Move on to pedals.

McSpunckle wrote:Fix bass. Gain confidence. Mod bass. Mod bass more. Keep modding bass. Bass becomes sentient and has to be destroyed. The army is called in. There's an epic battle. Many lives are lost. Lesson learned. Move on to pedals.

Guess i should have included that I started out fixing the jack and changing pickups in a guitar...confidence get!

I was playing in the house recording band at the studio I worked at and had a few too many arguments with the lead singer which prompted my leaving the band while wanting to stay connected to the project. While searching for something to do I walked into the tech's room and asked him if he needed any help as I wanted to learn some electronics. He said sure and led me to a room with a Trident 80B mixing console in it that was getting recapped. Over the next few days I recapped 10 or so channels with him and I've been hooked on fixing and creating gear ever since...

hello people, i come in peace...here's a interview i did for DiscoFreq's Effects Database a while back..since then, my mom passed away from lung cancer..i still love to build pedals (in her honor and for therapy)

How did Pedals By Tone start?

I basically got into building pedals in a few ways ways:

The first, which I think is the most common with guitarists like myself, is that I really couldn't find anything on the market that sounded like the sounds I heard in my head.

Secondly, and I think the most important, was that my mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and with my father passing away and mounting medicals bills, we need an additional source of income.

Combine that with my love for electronics and I started building pedals. Having a musical background I had a basic working knowledge of electronics. I took that a step further learning the more technical aspect of circuitry and the ability to create tones for various applications.

Where does the name come from?

It's a form of my first name... It's basically what all my friends call me.

I have no logo as of yet, but I have had a few ideas in mind though.

What sets Pedals By Tone apart from other builders?

Pedals By Tone will build you a quality pedal with a great sound and amazing one of a kind graphics that is built to last!Can you tell us something about the production process?

All pedals are hand built and hand wired by me in my workshop.

These are a one of a kind hand built overdrive/distortion pedal. I have hand crafted these myself with care and dedication. It really is a great sounding pedal with lots of gain and tons of sustain. There are no IC's in this, the sound comes from 5 JFETs. It has controls for level, tone and gain. These pedals were designed to make a clean set amp sound like a cranked stack. It runs on a standard adapter or 9 volt battery. If you want that huge sound without having a wall of amps then this is the pedal for you. Turn your little combo into a full blown raging stack with this pedal. From clean to mean and all in between.

I only use the best parts in my pedals. Die Cast Hammond Aluminum 1590N1 cases, high quality knobs, 3PDT true bypass switch, Neutrik jacks, 22 gauge high grade military wire, 16 mm Alpha pots, FR-4 .055 two ounce copper clad board. All the PCB's are hand etched and drilled personally by me. I use Wima and Panasonic capacitors with Xicon 1% resistors. Each pedal is neatly soldered and wired with care and dedication.

Each pedal has one of a kind graphics with a matching LED. I have used a two part epoxy resin for the finish which will last a lifetime. Please note these are handmade custom creations. The finish and graphics will vary slightly from pedal to pedal.

How important is the look of your pedals?

It's an important aspect of my builds. I want people to feel like they own a pedal that no one else owns. I want them to feel like they own a piece of art.

Is parts selection important?

Of course, I only use the best caps, switches, jacks, potentiometers, copper clad, JFETs, wire, die-cast aluminum enclosures, solder and resistors around.

Who uses your pedals and for which genres?

No specific genre just any guitarist who would want an overdrive/distortion type sound. It can be used for many applications; Metal, Blues, Pop, Rock, etc.

I created a pedal for Spike Cassidy, lead guitarist for the major recording thrash band D.R.I. with their signature "skanking dude" logo covering the enclosure. D.R.I. was a major influence on me growing up. It seemed as if every lyric on the "Dealing With It" album was about me and my life.

What does the future of Pedals By Tone look like?

The short term goals for Pedals By Tone is get more recognition through building a quality product with one of a kind graphics that is built to last and give a great tone.

Long term goals are to perfect and produce other models. All with hopes of gaining more attention to boutique builders who want to keep the feel and the vibe of a quality piece of electronics with out the hassle of mass production generic products. I have always focused on quality of the build, which in my eyes is second to none-other than that I would have to say I've only just begun.

Are you working on any new products?

Yep, I have quite a few ideas. I've been working on an analog sounding delay, an optical compressor, a very transparent sounding boost, and a buffer. As far as when you can expect them, probably in the near future, no set dates as of yet. I'm putting them through the trenches on stage with my band, Malicious Damage, at the moment making sure they'll pass the test.

A friend gave me a non-working russian big muff...and when I opened it up and saw that everything was spread out pretty well, I was able to find the problem really easily and just rewired the entire thing. Having swapped pickups in guitars since I was a kid, I had some experience with an iron. It sounded terrible, but it worked...and then I found several more broken ones on egay or c-list, and fixed and flipped them, some of the better sounding ones for friends and dirt cheap. That made me start to look at the circuit itself, and with so much info on them on the interwebs, I started modding the original one...swapping values, removing diodes, etc.. I bought a kit from GGG, then moved onto just buying some prefab pcbs and sourcing parts, and of course finally doing some veroboard builds. It's so incredibly rewarding to have your stuff sit next to (or replace) some $$$ boutique box...and have it be YOUR sound.

I had a roomate that was into all the circuit bending stuff, from there it was all apc's and noise makers for about a year, then I got a job with a fair amount of free time that lead to fuzzes for about a year.......